"I don't need to run everything by you. Sit." He gestures to the chair.
I don't move. "Actually, you do. I'm his mother."
A dangerous look spreads across his ugly face. He steps behind the chair and drags it out with a scrape that raises every hair on my arms.
"Sit. Now."
When I don't comply, he grabs me by the arm and shoves me down into the chair.
I catch a whiff of his nauseating cologne as he pushes me too far in, forcing the wood to bite into my ribcage. When I try to shift back, his hands clamp down and pin me in place.
He leans close to my ear. "I don't like repeating myself. Don'tdisrespect me again."
The door opens. A kitchen staff member walks in, head down, carrying two plates of food. She sets them down and pours wine into our glasses.
I'm desperate for her to lift her head and look into my eyes—see the plea in them—but she never does. She's more scared than me as she scurries out.
Ewan plants a kiss on the top of my head before taking a seat.
I draw inward, folding every sharp edge down, trying to quiet the dread that's snaking its way through my body.
"Why do you look like someone died?" Ewan asks pleasantly, cutting into his steak. "It's a great day. I handled a threat and made a lot of money."
"That's wonderful."
"That's all you have to say?"
"Sorry, I'm just tired."
He chuckles. "Of what, exactly? You never do anything."
The bite in my throat turns to dust, but I swallow it anyway.
"You know," he says, watching me instead of his plate, "you've changed this past year. Stopped wasting energy on pointless fights. It's made you much easier to live with."
I keep my breathing even, focusing on the food in front of me.
"You're calmer," he continues. "Almost content. Does it make you happy, Keira? Living like this?"
"Sure." I smile through the lie.
"I think we should celebrate that too."
He watches my face as he says it, savoring the way my fingers tighten around the stem of the wineglass.
"Answer me."
I clear my throat. "How do you propose we do that?"
He grimaces, as if the question offends him. "Something more intimate. Just you and me."
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
"Hale won't stay small forever. He won't stay protected. I need options." He cuts into his steak again.
